Winter time is the practice of shifting the clock behind

standard time Standard time is the synchronization of clocks within a geographical region to a single time standard, rather than a local mean time standard. Generally, standard time agrees with the local mean time at some meridian that passes through the r ...

during winter months, usually −1 hour. It is the opposite of

daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time, daylight time (Daylight saving time in the United States, United States and Daylight saving time in Canada, Canada), or summer time (British Summer Time, United Kingdom, ...

in that the different time is in effect during winter months, rather than the usual case where the different time is in effect during summer months. However, while summer time is widely applied, use of winter time has been and is very rare.

Czechoslovakia

Winter time was applied in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

by government ordinance no. 213/1946 Sb. from 1 December 1946 (3:00→2:00) to 23 February 1947 (2:00→3:00), authorized by act 212/1946 Sb., ("about the winter time"). This simple two-paragraph act, approved on 21 November 1946 and announced on 27 November 1946, authorised the government to implement winter time by ordinance at any time. The government gave as the main reason for this provision the fact that power plants had approximately 10% lack of capacity in peak hours (07:00–08:00 and 16:00–20:00) and winter time should help to spread the load out. The act was never cancelled and it theoretically authorises the government in the successor

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, as well as in the

Slovak Republic Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's ...

, which adopted Czechoslovak law, to implement winter time again at any time. However, the experiment has never been repeated.

Namibia

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

used winter time since 1994 until 2017. In this period Namibian Standard Time was UTC+02:00 (derived from

South African Standard Time South African Standard Time (SAST) is the time zone used by all of South Africa as well as Eswatini and Lesotho. The zone is two hours ahead of UTC ( UTC+02:00) and is the same as Central Africa Time. Daylight saving time is not observed in ei ...

) in summer, and UTC+01:00 (equivalent to

West Africa Time West Africa Time, or WAT, is a time zone used in west-central Africa. West Africa Time is one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC+01:00), which aligns it with Central European Time (CET) during winter, and Western European Summer Tim ...

) in winter. Winter time began on the first Sunday in April at 03:00, and lasted until the first Sunday in September, 02:00 hours. In the

Zambezi Region The Zambezi Region, known as the Caprivi Region until 2013, is one of Namibia's fourteen regions, situated in the north-eastern part of the country along the Zambezi River. The region's capital is Katima Mulilo. The Katima Mulilo Airport is ...

in the far north-east of Namibia clocks were not changed and remained on Central Africa Time all year round so that during winter time, Namibia spanned two time zones. The purpose was not to utilise additional hours of daylight in the evening, but to prevent children from walking to school in darkness in the morning, to decrease the risk of injuries and assaults.

Ireland

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

uses Irish Standard Time (IST, UTC+01:00; ) in the summer months and

Greenwich Mean Time Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being ...

( UTC+0) in the winter period.Standard Time (Amendment) Act, 1971
/ref> Ireland has adjusted clocks in winter since 1971.Standard Time (Amendment) Act, 1971
/ref>
/ref> The Standard Time Act 1968 legally established that "the time for general purposes in the State (to be known as standard time) shall be one hour in advance of Greenwich mean time throughout the year".
/ref> This act was amended by the Standard Time (Amendment) Act 1971, which legally established

for a winter time period. Ireland therefore operates one hour behind standard time during the winter period, and reverts to standard time in the summer months. This is defined in contrast to the other states in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, which operate one hour ahead of standard time during the summer period, but produces the same end result. In Ireland, winter time begins at 02:00 IST on the last Sunday in October (changing to 01:00 GMT), and ends at 01:00 GMT on the last Sunday in March (changing to 02:00 IST).

Chile

Until 2015, Continental Chile used the time offset UTC−04:00 and Easter Island used UTC−06:00 for standard time, with

roughly between October and March every year. In January 2015 the Chilean government announced that the entire country will keep the time offset used during daylight saving time permanently. Indeed, there was no time change in 2015, however the annual time change was reinstated in 2016 after feedback from the public about an increase in truancy during the winter months, complaints about older computers and other electronic devices not using the right time zone, and fruit growers reporting a 15% loss in productivity. Chile returned to UTC−04:00 for winter time for 3 months starting in 2016. This begins the second Saturday of May and ends on the second Saturday of August. Since 2017 a new time zone in the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica region has been implemented, having 2 different zones in Continental Chile for the first time.

References

{{Reflist Timekeeping Winter time

Czechoslovakia

Namibia

Ireland

Chile

See also

References